I stumbled upon a YouTube video recently in which someone calling himself "Chef Prepper" did a comparison of 12 brands of canned chicken (Kroger, Kirkland, Tyson, Sam's Club, etc.).
He carefully accounted for total weight (with liquid) of each brand, weight of the actual meat, ingredients (including additives), taste, etc. His goal was to determine the best bang for the buck in terms of price and taste. Most of the chicken was canned in 12.5-ounce cans. When he calculated everything out, the very best deal he came up with was Sam's Club chicken which, when all was said and done, cost about $5/lb.
We don't have Sam's Club around here, but I got onto the Costco website and looked at their canned chicken.
The online price as of Dec. 18 was $15.00 for a pack of six cans. Zooming in on the actual amount of meat:
So that's 2.6 lbs of meat for $15, or $5.77/lb
Here's the thing: I can my own chicken meat. What I do is purchase bulk frozen 40-lb. boxes of boneless skinless chicken breasts from Chef's Store, a regional chain of restaurant-supply stores (and my favorite place to shop for bulk foods). I defrost the meat and fit about one pound of meat per pint, or two pounds per quart, after it's all canned up.
As of Dec. 18, the price for a 40-lb. box of boneless skinless chicken breast at Chef's Store was $56, or $1.40/lb.
This frugal alternative to commercial canned chicken, Don reminded me to add, is because I already have a pressure canner, jars, lids, and all the other canning accouterments – as well as the skills and experience – necessary to process the meat properly. And, of course, there's the time spent. It usually takes me an entire day to process all 40 lbs. of meat. How much is my time worth?
Still, when everything shakes out, it's nice to have canned chicken in the pantry – and for a lot less than I might spend at Costco for the same amount.
totally agree. This past year we needed to replace our flock since they were hardly laying anymore. So I had an incubator and hatched out 55 baby chicks ( Momma hen helped with having 6) So I replaced my flock and had 19 older chickens who a friend asked if they could come butcher, I said sure. We got ourselves a chicken plucker and butchered up the 19, then another friend got another 20 of the roos the next weekend. Finally we got the last 9 since I increased the size of the flock. We are now getting way more eggs than we could ever use but I share them with the families that got the chickens. None of us want to eat store bought meat anymore because they approved giving mRNA shots to all livestock. Not mandatory but it is how they want to give shots now. These are the same government agencies that say we should eat less beef so climate change slows down. Climate has always changed. Those who push climate change don't even know how to live on less energy from a provider. We got ourselves down to less than 300Kw/month. We are usually solar for the summer, but in winter we have days like this last week which are clear but also darker than normal and not much sun comes through to charge. Oh well, it is there for emergencies though and that helps a lot. Sorry I rambled so much. God Bless you all!
ReplyDeleteYep. I agree home-canned chicken is best. We raise our own meat bird chickens and I can the meat too. So much better and cheaper than anything from the stores. And the chickens are given a sweet life out in the sunshine on pastured grass. Merry Christmas from eastern Kansas!
ReplyDeleteMama J
Canned venison is also delicious - and inexpensive!
ReplyDeleteYes it is! It's what we just ate for dinner, actually. We canned 6 quarts from a portion of a buck I shot less than a month ago. Very tender meat when pressure canned. Highly recommended and no refrigeration needed.
DeleteHow does the texture of chicken breast hold up to home canning? I tried chicken salad made with (commercially available) canned chicken once and the texture was almost mush, which I did not enjoy. I have been reluctant to try anything with canned chicken since.
ReplyDeleteI've had commercial canned chicken meat and didn't think much of it either. For home-canned chicken, the chunks that come out of the jar don't stay in chunks; they shred, and that's how we use it. It's excellent for chicken pot pie, chicken Caesar salad, soups, stews, etc.
Delete- Patrice
In political philosophy Patrice and Adele "own the means of production" more or less. They are also the labor, of course. Good job, both of you.
ReplyDeleteWe find chicken leg quarters for 88 cents a pound and can 7 quarts at a time. Use for our food and dog's food added to the crunchies. Good stuff.
ReplyDeleteFunny that I read this tonight - we had my home canned chicken (with rice, carrots, bamboo, and a bunch of Asian spices and mirin and veg stock, all tossed in the instapot because I spent the day painting the hallway and dining room and didn't feel like doing any serious cooking). I like to can our old birds because they are too tough to be good for roasting. Nothing goes to waste that way - debone and can the meat, and use the bone for bone broth and/or chicken stock. I'm cheap that way...
ReplyDeleteXaLynn
I saw a youtube of someone canning gizzards and she added white vinegar to them, just a teaspoon per quart I think, to make them tender. Do you think that would work with the old girls too because some of my older hens even pressure canned are mighty chewy. With my teeth I chew and chew and then give the blob to the dog. Just wondering if I had used white vinegar if I would actually be able to chew the meat or better yet have it melt in my mouth. I do not have good teeth because of poor care for them in my younger years.
DeleteI've never tried adding vinegar, but it's worth a try. I know adding a splash of vinegar to carcasses helps draw out the nutrients from the bones when making broth/stock.
Delete- Patrice
other acids to cosider using include lemon juice, other fruit juices, and wine. all tenderize well and add flavor.
DeletePreach it! We are pressure canning something almost every Friday from October-May, when it isn't too hot. Our favorite is canned turkey. We get ten meals out of a turkey -- eat off it fresh twice, strip the carcass and usually get six half-pints of meat, then break the carcass in half and make soup twice. We LOVE canned turkey over noodles. Home canned meat is so much better than commercially canned meat (that generally tastes like cat food to me) and you know what is in it. I wrote an article for survivalblog.com about canning small quantities of meat. Tractorguy
ReplyDeleteJust got a Nesco electric canner and I may never put it up. It is so simple to use and you can use it daily without disrupting the rest of your life. Small batch canning is my new love. I would break down those bulk purchases of meat and freeze them to process several times. It wouldn't take long.
DeleteRight now I'm pretty much focusing on meals in a jar that contain meat, or are siutable for adding dry ingredients later. Will probably move to meats in a jar pretty soon.
Don't have to babysit this canner.
Our neighbor on the next farm raises chickens for Perdue. Once a year he can buy up to four 40 lb boxes of fresh boneless, skinless chicken beasts for $40. We usually buy 2 of them from him then spend several days canning/ freezing them. I routinely can buy chicken quarters at a local store in 10 lb bags for $.49/lb or less.
ReplyDeleteDo you raw pack your chicken or do you cook the chicken breasts first before canning?
ReplyDeleteA few times a years I purchase whole chickens from a local farm and boil them. I then debone them and can the meat. Next I continue to cook the bones for broth. After straining out the broth I use a blender to puree the bones (they are so soft at this point) and freeze for treats for my dog.
I boil the chicken breasts before canning.
DeleteI agree with you regarding carcasses. I cook the bones for broth and can it up as chicken or turkey stock.
- Patrice
I pressure cook all bird and fish bones to give to my dog. He loves them.
DeleteI found that with store bought canned chicken, the amount of actual chicken varies significantly. The way to determine how much meat versus broth is in the can is to look at the protein content. If the 12.5 can has 9 grams per serving, it is mostly broth. If it is closer to 15 grams per, it is mostly meat.
ReplyDeleteSome people may not be aware that the Great Value chicken is the same as the Members Mark. WalMart and Sam’s Club are the same company. I got another Bumble Bee brand on sale and it was AWFUL. The Great Value/Members Mark chicken is white, firm, and not a lot of water or fat. I buy it from time to time so the expiration dates are spread out. Yes, I know you can use the product after the “expiration” dates.
ReplyDeleteI agree. I know a lot of people who will only buy name brand stuff. It's funny, because I've repeatedly found GV better.
DeleteAnother meat they can that I actually prefer to chicken is the albacore white tuna. There's virtually no liquid in the can, just tightly packed white tuna. The name brands of tuna taste more like off brands to me. They might be. With price increases people are buying store brands a lot, so name brands sit on the shelf longer and I think those companies probably look for ways to save on their costs.
I only buy name brand chicken like Bell & Evans. The texture of everything cheaper is either rubbery or chewy. I'm very sensitive to food textures.
DeleteI wish I could eat commercially canned chicken but I find it so unappealing, I just can't eat it. The first time I bought it (Kirkland) I wound up giving it all to my dogs. Then I thought I'd try again since so many people urged me to--nope. The pinkness? Gross. The texture? Weird. I dropped all the cans at the food pantry.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you are a great cook. I never heard of the brand of chicken you mentioned above. Small community grocery stores in the south aren't prone to carrying the very best of anything. But you'll find collards year rouund, and sometimes carch a small farmer in the aisle talking to the owner while his truck of stuff sits outside waiting for a bargain to be struck. I do like seeing that.
DeleteI want to try making pizza crust out of the canned chicken. It gets really crispy so you may want to try it also.
DeleteBack when we were younger and both working, I bought a freeze dryer. We freeze dry way more than what we can. Just like canning, some things work better than others. The nice thing is freeze drying entire meals, casseroles, leftovers, etc. Very light in storage, lasts approximately 20 years when stored properly, and tastes good when rehydrated. As a dry snack it is often quite good, also. Freeze dried ice cream bars are amazing. Somehow they never make it 20 years. Closer to 20 days. And, just like home canning, home freeze drying produces a much better product. Start with quality and you end with quality.
ReplyDeleteHaving jars and lids and canners go a long way toward making home canned chicken cheaper, especially now. Wide lids are $5 for a little pack of 12 at Walmart now! And jars, jelly, pints, and quarts, are close to being the same price. High ! And yet, jars are flying off the shelves like hot cakes. Not so much those rediculously priced Ball lids, which, btw, aren't even made by Ball anymore.
ReplyDeleteCanning is becoming more and more a thing. Maybe a better word would be necessity.
And lids are best bought online, sad to say. And Tattler may be the way to go since they're reusable. There's another brand that looks like Tattler, but I don't know if they're any good.